Organic Allotment

A Well Stocked Cold Frame

The seedlings are really racing ahead now after the spell of sunny weather that we've had. I've had a good tidy out in the greenhouse today and moved the bigger ones into the cold frame to make room for the little ones that are coming through. In this picture you can see kale, turnips, beets and parsnips which will all soon be ready for the move out into the big wide world.

For the kale and parsnips these are the only ones that I'll plant this year, though I have got another batch of parsnips that I started straight in the ground. In a week or two I'll put them outside where they'll stay right through the winter until we're ready to eat them. For the beets and turnips they are just the first batch of many that will be planted in succession throughout the season so that I've got the longest possible harvest. I'm trying five different varieties of beetroots which will be planted in roughly fortnightly intervals, with the same regime used for my turnips.

It may seem a bit of bother to spread things out like this but it is really worth the effort to extend your picking season, no matter how small a plot you're working on.

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Kim at Fresh As A Daisy

The Rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write six random things about yourself.
• Tag six people at the end of your post linking to their blog.
• Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Here goes...

1. I love growing pumpkins but I'm not particularly keen on eating most of them.
2. I work in a theatre with very few windows so spend much of my working life dreaming about what it looks like outside.
3. I speak Spanish (badly) but am totally baffled by the subjunctive.
4. I think Border Terriers are the best dogs but sadly haven't got one myself.
5. I don't fly anywhere, ever... that includes cheap weekend mini breaks.
6. I think capers are delicious.

I'm going to tag:
Soilman
Steed Farm
Musings from a Stonehead
Manor Stables Veg Plot
Calendula and Concrete
Tales of a Growing Apprentice

A Little Bedtime Reading

Bedtime reading in my house at the moment is Cuttings by Christopher Lloyd. A bit of an unfortunate obsession maybe, reading gardening books in bed, but this is the perfect pre-sleep browse. It is divided into a chapter for each month, which contain a selection of Christopher's columns written originally for the Guardian. Great to dip into and find eloquently written, expert advice as to what you should be thinking about and when in terms of plants.

Most of the book is focused on gardens with a little bit here and there about veg. However, I'm a great believer that allotments should look as good as well as being functional so any ideas about growing flowers and shrubs is much appreciated. One entry for May entitled "Young Foliage" was particularly resonant for me with its mention of the leaves of the Oriental Poppy which I had just been admiring on the plot. Of course the flowers are beautiful but they are really the second act to the leaves which act as such a point of interest when there isn't much else going on. As Christopher Lloyd puts it, their leaves are "pinnate, having deep indentations and a furry, dew-holding surface." Not showy and over stated like the blousey poppies, which are gone in the blink of an eye, but beautiful in their simplicity and functionality non the less.